


A Dash of Shy and a Hint of Sweet

by TheKitsune



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, F/M, Julenette, Shy Juleka so normal Juleka, There should be more fics of these two!, They are so adorable together!, more to be added later - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-07-28 08:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16238108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKitsune/pseuds/TheKitsune
Summary: After Marinette goes out of her way to help Juleka out on picture day, Juleka finds herself growing feelings for the kind bluenette. The problem though...Juleka is too shy to work up the nerve to ask Marinette out. With help from Rose, Juleka works on growing closer to Marinette and forming a relationship.But life isn't always that simple now is it?





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> I have been wanting to make a Julenette fic for so long. Like, Lilanette is my favorite Miraculous pairing ever, but I find myself loving this pairing as well. It is rather upsetting that not many people seem to ship it, but I can understand considering the Love Square and Julerose.  
> Anyway, my goal with this fic is to entertain my readers, write a rather good story, and gain more Julenette shippers. I'll be happy even if it isn't your main ship ^^

Loneliness. This was a feeling that Juleka was used to. Heck, she was intimate with this feeling. Thanks to her shyness, she couldn't really communicate well with anybody at her school. Barely any of her classmates even noticed she was there. The principal didn't even know that she was a student until he was told. The only people she could count on noticing her presence were her family and Rose who was family at this point. While she lived, satisfied with this knowledge, it still hurt to be so...invisible to everyone else.

At least that's what she thought before today. Today, she had been akumatized like plenty of her other classmates. She really couldn't remember everything that she did as an akuma, but she hated the fact that she was hurt enough to actually become one. And to think, she became an akuma because she couldn't handle feeling invisible anymore. Since she got home, she had been sitting in her room thinking about this. She was so sure that if she became an akuma, it wasn't going to be because of that. She had accepted the fact that pretty much no one noticed her presence a long time ago.

Maybe, maybe it was because she had hoped so much that she wouldn't be invisible anymore that all the pent up emotions finally bursted free. That stupid photo curse, it really did cause problems. She was so happy that it had finally been broken. It was all thanks to her classmate, Marinette. It seems, she could finally add a non-family member to her 'Sees Me' list. Apparently, she could have had Marinette on this list for years. Turns out, the girl always knew she was there. If only she tried speaking to her more often then maybe they could be closer friends than they are now.

She had always been fond of the cheerful bluenette. She was kind to everyone in the classroom, she was so energetic, she stood up to Chloe on a daily basis, and she would go out of her way to help someone. Heck, she would probably help Chloe if the blonde needed help that badly. She really looked up to her classmate; because, in a lot of ways, Marinette had many aspects of her personality that Juleka wished she also had. She wished that she could be more outspoken in class, the courage to stand up to Chloe, the kindness to help anybody no matter what they have done to you, etc. Instead, Juleka was stuck with her shyness and meek personality.

While she knew Marinette would have helped her with her photo curse much sooner than today, she had been too nervous to ask her for the help. That was why, she finally begged Rose for help in asking Marinette. When Marinette agreed, Juleka felt something that she very rarely felt unless she was hanging out with Rose, watching a horror movie, or listening to music, happiness. And most of all, she felt hope. Hope that the curse would end.

That was why when it seemed like they would fail and that no one truly cared about her presence or knew she existed, it nearly broke her. Maybe that's why she was so dangerous as an akuma, or at least that was what Rose said. After being turned back to normal though, Juleka felt her heart swell up with happiness when Marinette revealed that she found a way to break the curse. That wasn't all she felt though.

And that's where we find ourselves today...  
\---

Juleka felt her cheeks heat up as she thought of Marinette's smiling face again. Sighing as she covered her face with her hands, she lied back on her bed and faced her wall. "Why..." Juleka muttered quietly as she peeked through her fingers at one of the pictures they had taken today. Being one of the successful pictures, Rose dragged Juleka to a store to get it printed and framed.

Juleka had sat it on the small desk next to her bed. Blushing again as she looked at the picture with her, Marinette, and Rose, Juleka lightly shook her head as she tried to rid herself of these thoughts that kept invading her mind like some kind of disease. Except, it was a good disease in this case.

"Why can't I stop thinking of Marinette?..." Juleka groaned lightly as she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling with a pout/frown hybrid decorating her face. Ever since the photo session ended and she got back to her houseboat, she could not stop thinking of her bluenette, class rep. The way that she went out of the way to help and didn't even let an akuma attack by Juleka herself stop her just drilled unknown emotions into the quiet girl's heart.

These emotions though, they...they just were so unfamiliar to the girl. She couldn't understand what they were...or why she had them. They...they made her feel kind of like how Rose looked when talking about Prince Ali. So...so happy. Juleka felt a small smile blossom on her face.

Looking over at her specially designed cell phone (it had a black phone case with purple outlines on it and a small sticker of the Horrificator on the back), Juleka gently grasped it and looked through her contacts.

"Rose...Mom...Luka...Rose...Mom...Luka...."

"..."

"...I wish I had Marinette's number..." Juleka whispered to herself as she turned the screen off on her phone and placed it back on the small desk before rolling back over on her bed. Closing her eyes, she felt the fatigue from today's events finally begin to hit her so she decided to let it take her away so she could get some sleep.

Sadly, it didn't seem to be so as right as she was about to slip away into the darkness's sweet embrace, another image of Marinette flashed into her mind causing her cheeks to blaze pink. Sighing sadly, she opened her eyes and looked out the small window in her room.

"Tonight is going to be a long night..." Juleka muttered as she relaxed on her bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And end of the first chapter! The other chapters will be longer, but for this one, I felt it was a good place to stop. It helped introduce how Juleka is feeling and where the fic is set timewise. Plus, I need a little more time to think of cute interactions to write between Marinette and a super, shy Juleka.  
> I hope everyone liked the chapter and will be looking forward to the next chapter!


	2. The First Day of Shyness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And new chapter! I noticed not many people have read the fic, but I kind of expected it as Julenette isn't a popular ship. To everybody who has and enjoys it so far, I hope you all like this chapter. And like I promised, it's longer than the last one :D

-Beep! Beep! Beep!-

A hand gently came down to turn the clock off. It missed the first few times, but after a couple more attempts, it was finally able to shut the clock off. A quiet groan broke the silence of the room as a figure under the blankets began to stir. The figure began to move around to rise out from under the covers, but the warmth that they provided seemed to pull them back into the dream state that they were in the process of exiting. Right as the figure was about to fall back to sleep, their door slammed open.

"Come on me matey! It's morning time! Wake up!" an older woman shouted as she stepped into the figure's room. Another groan was released from their mouth before they sat up to reveal a disheveled Juleka looking over at the woman.

"Mama...please not so loud," Juleka begged her mom who just let out a laugh as she walked over and gave her daughter a hug.

"Sorry honey, but you know ye mama! She loves to be loud! Haha!!" Juleka sighed as she watched her mom laugh again before leaving her bedroom to go wake Luka up. Sighing under her breath, Juleka rose off her bed and ran a hand through her messed up hair. Looking at herself in the mirror on the far wall in her room, she saw that her hair was messed up on the top while her hair in the back was mostly okay. Taking a look down at her clothes, she saw that they were covered in wrinkles which made her let out another sigh and a quiet sarcastic, "Awesome," under her breath.

Walking over to her cabinet, she opened a drawer to grab a fresh pair of undergarments before walking over to her closet and grabbing the rest of her clothes. Hearing her mom leave Luka's room, she made her way to the bathroom so she could take a shower before Luka needed it.

After taking a hot shower, Juleka dried herself off and stepped into her outfit for the day, which happened to look like her normal outfit that her classmates have become accustomed to. Looking over at the bathroom mirror, she looked herself over for a second before pausing as she realized she was checking to see if she looked okay. "...Weird," Juleka muttered as she left the bathroom to go and apply her make up before she left to meet up with Rose on their way to school.

As she sat down on her bed, she began to apply her lipstick when she heard her cell phone vibrate. Pausing, she looked over at her phone and saw that she had received a text from an unknown number. Raising an eyebrow, she opened the message and felt her face heat up.

'Hey! I went home yesterday, and I was going to ask if you were feeling okay after everything that happened, but I realized that I didn't have your number. Luckily, I found Rose's number and quickly asked her! By the way this is Marinette! XD'

Juleka stared at her phone in shock as she tried to snap herself back to normal. The sudden text from Marinette made all her thoughts of the bluenette from the previous night begin to flood her mind again. Trying to fight them back, she looked back at the text and realized that she should probably message Marinette back. Taking a moment to think of a quick response, she finally thought of the right thing to say as she sent the text. Only to regret it right after.

'Awesome'

"...I need to use another word than awesome," Juleka groaned slightly as she put her phone away and finished her lipstick and went on to apply eyeliner. As Juleka applied it, she decided to go over her thoughts about Marinette from before and today. So she clearly wants to become closer to Marinette...but did she want to become closer friends? Because if she did then why was she feeling all this warmth in her chest. Rose didn't make her feel like this and they were practically sisters at this point.

The only other thing that Juleka could guess was that she had a crush on Marinette, and that couldn't be it...right? Sure Marinette was cute and nice...and friendly...and selfless...and amazing...

"...Damn it..." Juleka whispered as her face lit up and the warm feeling from before began to invade her chest again. Why did she have to get a crush on someone that she had no chance of getting with? Marinette was hopelessly in love with Adrien, and it was only a matter of time until he realizes how great she is and the two begin dating.

Sighing again, she grabbed her bag and headed towards the small cafe that she usually met Rose at to grab breakfast before heading on to school. Looking back at the text from Marinette, she hesitantly pressed the icon at the bottom to add her to her contacts. Typing in 'Marinette,' Juleka was about to press save before looking at the name one more time. Thinking for a second, she finally added a small purple heart emoji next to it and quickly pressed save before she could erase it.

"...I hope Rose doesn't take my phone to look at something anytime soon...I do not feel like getting teased about this," Juleka muttered to herself as she waved good-bye to her mom and brother before walking on the steps heading off the houseboat and onto the pavement. Looking around, she saw a crosswalk that lead across the street. It seems like her mom had moved their house while they were sleeping. Great...now she was even further from the cafe than usual.

Pulling her phone out of her bag, she went to her messages and quickly texted Rose to explain the situation. Quickly asking her friend to pick her up a coffee and meet up at school, Juleka was just about to put her phone into her bag when a door flew open in front of her and smashed into her face. It seemed that she did not stop walking while she texted Rose.

"owww..." Juleka groaned as rubbed her nose while sitting on the ground. She heard a gasp before feeling someone touch her shoulder. She was about to send the person a glare only to freeze as she saw a concerned Marinette looking at her. Why was Marinette here? Wait, that smell. It was really sweet...was she outside Marinette's family's bakery? Just how far did her mother sail last night? Blushing, she felt Marinette grip her shoulder again.

"I am so sorry, Juleka! I didn't see you coming, and I wanted to make it to school on time for once so I was rushing out the door and...well you know the rest...I'm sorry," Marinette apologized while bowing her head sadly causing Juleka to look back at her with an even brighter blush as she ignored the throbbing pain in her nose. Feeling her hand flinch, Juleka realized that her brain was trying to get her to say something, but her nerves were keeping her frozen in place.

Seeing Marinette's sad face though caused Juleka to force the nerves away as she took a large gulp and brought her left hand up to Marinette's shoulder. "It...it's okay. It was an accident," Juleka barely got out before falling silent again. It seemed to work though as Marinette was beginning to smile again. Seeing her smile also helped brighten Juleka up as she felt the edges of her lips begin to raise upwards into a small smile.

Helping the taller girl up to her feet (and impressing her with her strength), Marinette grasped Juleka's hand and began pulling her forward. "Come on Juleka! Lets walk to school together! I rarely get to walk to school with anyone since I'm usually late," Marinette happily exclaimed as she continued pulling a tomato-faced Juleka with her.

"...S-sure," Juleka stuttered as she followed Marinette while silently hoping that her palms didn't begin to sweat from how nervous she was feeling. Her day was actually turning out pretty good...

"Ow my nose..." Juleka quietly muttered as she felt the pain in her nose return. Thankfully, Marinette didn't hear her while they continued on their way.

Looking down at their hands, Juleka felt her blush begin to recede just a little while she felt the warmth begin to fill her chest again. Today...was going to be a good day. Even if Chloe was a jerk to her all day, today looked like it was going to be good.

-In Class-

Juleka was so wrong. So, so wrong. She frowned as she rested her chin on Rose's and her's desk. She was looking over at Marinette instead of Mlle. Bustier and felt really bad. When the two had arrived at the school, Marinette instantly ran off to greet Alya who was waiting for her at the entrance. A few seconds later, Nino had arrived and greeted the two. Marinette looked like she was about to call Juleka over to join them only to go red and silent when she spotted Adrien's limo arrive.

Juleka felt the warm feeling leave her as she walked off when she realized that Marinette was too distracted by the sight of Adrien to talk to her anymore. Walking up the stairs, she was greeted by an energetic Rose who thrusted a cup of coffee into Juleka's face which earned her a small laugh from Juleka. It did help her feel better after what happened outside, but it was still slightly annoying. She didn't blame Marinette though. The girl was clearly in love with Adrien.

Still, it didn't make watching the girl stare at him for the whole class period any easier on her. Glancing over at Rose, she was happy to see that she was paying attention to the lesson instead of what Juleka was doing. She knew that Rose would quickly pick up on why she was staring at Marinette.

Reaching over, she lifted the cup of coffee off the desk and brought it to her lips to take a sip. When was lunch going to begin? Oh right, in like two hours...great....

Looking away from Marinette to keep from causing herself more pain, she decided to focus on the lesson so she could let time pass by quicker. It didn't help to hear Marinette let out small sighs every now and then though.

Thankfully, the lesson went by quicker once she began to focus on it and less on Marinette. As she quickly heard the bell go off right as she took the last sip of coffee. Looking down at her cup with a small frown, Juleka sighed as she rose from the desk and grabbed her bag.

"I'll meet you outside Rose. I'm going to go and grab a drink from one of the vending machines," Juleka told Rose as she walked down the steps in the classroom and out the door. As she turned to head downstairs, she was caught offguard as someone ran into her side and caused them to begin to fall down the stairs. All she saw was a flash of blue before her body moved on its own, and she found herself holding onto the other person as tightly as she could to keep them from hitting the stairs everytime they collided with them.

The second the two hit the floor, they rolled a couple of times until it ended with Juleka on top of the other person. Groaning in pain, both of them looked up to see who they collided with. And Juleka froze with a blush as she realized she was on top of Marinette who was also blushing, probably from embarrassment. Juleka found herself unable to move even though her body was protesting her decision to support herself up and over Marinette.

"I-I-I..." Juleka quietly stuttered as her blush increased before finally, she was able to push herself up and speed off as her blush began to increase.

Behind her on the floor, Marinette continued staring up at the ceiling. Seeing the lighting shine down on Juleka from behind and the slight movement of Juleka's bangs...

"Juleka's really pretty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And end chapter! Shy, blushing Juleka is fun to write :D So the story has finally began! I'm going to try and keep up with the canon plot to a degree at least timewise. So unless the akuma will be important to the plot, I'll just mention them offhandedly as I write.  
> Also, if anyone wants to draw fanart for the fic, then please tag me so I can see it! I would love to see it! (Please draw Julenette fanart even if it's not for the fic).  
> Also if anybody has ideas for cute moments between the two for the fic, then I don't mind hearing them in a comment. If I like the idea enough, then I might add it to the fic.


	3. Blushing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! New chapter! Sorry about the long wait, but hear it is! I'm going to say now sorry that it isn't longer, but the next one will definitely be. I was having trouble thinking about how to continue it from the last chapter. Next chapter should be easier.

Juleka closed the stall door behind her as she sat down in the bathroom. Feeling the pain from colliding with the staircase finally hit her, she began to rub her arms while groaning lightly. As she rubbed her arms, the memory of fall's end hit her again which just caused her face to brighten up again.

"...I can't believe I fell on Marinette like that..." Juleka muttered to herself as she looked down in embarrassment before hissing in pain as she felt a spot on the back of left arm ache more than the rest of her arm. Sighing as she moved her right hand away from the spot, she continued rubbing her arms to try and soothe the pain so she wouldn't worry Rose when she met back up with her for lunch.

Maybe...she could invite Marinette to eat lunch with them? No...she would be too busy eating lunch with Alya or Alya, Nino, and Adrien. The thought of the four eating together with Marinette blushing brightly at Adrien caused Juleka to sigh as her heart ached in pain. Bringing her left hand up to push her bang out of her eye for a moment, Juleka looked at her reflection in her small mirror.

"...Would she like me better as a blonde?...maybe if I was more courageous...short hair?" Juleka muttered to herself as she continued to check her appearance out. She mentally imagined herself with the suggestions that she mentioned added. This quickly earned a shake of the head as she closed her small mirror and stood up.

"No...there's really no point in changing how I look, and I cannot really change how I act that easily...I should probably think about this more later. I need to meet up with Rose," Juleka muttered as she opened the stall door and left the bathroom while stretching her arms out above her head to try and rid them of any more kinks.

As she headed down the hallway, she made sure to dodge the other students so that she wouldn't accidentally run into them. She's already been ran into enough today after all. Looking around, she smiled slightly at the sight of her over energetic best friend talking excitedly with Alix. It seems that Rose saw her though since all the talking that had been going on from the other students were pierced by Rose's squeal of happiness that was followed by the short blonde shooting towards her.

Juleka brought up her arms to try and stop Rose from knocking her over which seemed to work as she was still standing, but Rose's words left her floored...literally and metaphorically.

"So you have a crush on Marinette!" Rose happily exclaimed while making sure to somehow stay quiet enough to keep anybody else from hearing. Juleka had collapsed backwards in shock while staring back up at her friend with a look of disbelief on her face. She has shown more emotion on her face today than she has all school year. And to think, the day isn't even half over yet...

"...Who told you that?" Juleka asked Rose quietly while slowly standing back up. She definitely did not tell anyone as she had only completely realized it last night. Did Rose somehow get a hold of her cell phone while she was distracted in class? Or did she see her staring at Marinette in class. Was she talking out loud whenever she was thinking to herself? Maybe it was the blushing...it could have been the blushing.

Rose just smiled brighter as she brought her hands together happily. "You just did! It was only a guess until now!" Rose happily declared while bouncing up and down which made Juleka groan into her hands. How did she play into that so easily?

Peeking through her fingers, she saw Rose cup her own cheeks while smiling happily with her eyes beginning to sparkle. "I am so happy! My best friend is in love! She's going to have such a beautiful and loving girlfriend! I cannot wait to see you two act all lovey dovey!" Rose happily announced while Juleka looked down at the floor while her arms began to droop down.

"...You'll be waiting a long time Rose. We both know that she's hopelessly in love with Adrien. She'll never fall in love with me. I'm just the quiet, shy girl that no one notices..." Juleka muttered quietly as her bangs covered her eyes. Rose immediately looked up at Juleka and moved forward to comfort her friend only for Juleka to walk pass her, "Lets head on to lunch."

"Jules..." Rose muttered quietly as she quickly followed after Juleka. She hated to see her best friend like this.

-Marinette-

'Did I really think that Juleka was pretty? Well I mean I'm not wrong. All the girls in class are pretty, even...ugh...Chloe, but why did it feel different when I thought that about Juleka?' Marinette thought to herself as she followed Alya out to their usual lunch spot.

"So girl...what was that that I heard about Juleka being pretty?" Alya asked her best friend with a small smirk on her face as she glanced back at Marinette. The second she heard this, Marinette felt her face light up like a light bulb. She said it out loud?

Looking forward at her grinning best friend, Marinette felt her face light up even more as she felt the embarrassment begin to over take her. "Alyaaaaa don't tease meeee," Marinette whined out as she began to playfully beat her fists on Alya's arm which just made said girl bring her arms up in a defensive position.

"I was just teasing you girl. No need to attack me. I know who your heart belongs to. I just thought it was an interesting thing to say after falling down a staircase because someone is a clumsy dork," Alya cheekily said as she continued to flash a grin at Marinette who stuck her tongue out in response.

"I am a clumsy, adorable dork thank you. And I only said it because I never saw Juleka without her bang covering her eye. It was very surprising to see just how pretty she truly was...why are you smiling...Juleka walked by the exact moment I said that didn't she..." Marinette questioned her best friend who just busted out laughing at how bright Marinette's face got as she realized what just happened. Marinette spun around and spotted a smiling Rose calling after her embarrassed, blushing best friend who was rushing to a far away table.

Marinette face palmed as she realized that she just made things incredibly awkward between her and Juleka now.

-Juleka-

She thinks I'm pretty! She thinks I'm pretty! She thinks I'm pretty!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone liked the chapter and is liking the fic so far! All I want is to create more Julenette fans, and I hope the fic is fulfilling that hope of mine :)


End file.
